Wear a Leadership “Posture Shirt”

Key Point: What if we could add positive leadership habits and behaviors by simply putting on a shirt? Is there a metaphor for improving our personal leadership?

Alignmed’s Posture Shirt is getting is getting some very positive reviews. Just put it on, and it apparently does all the rest with it’s sewn in neurobands that provide controlled resistance and create a form of passive therapy to fix poor posture. It has been FDA registered, granted prescription approval, vetted with research and has over 80,000 users to date.

A Fox TV segment talks about how adjusting your posture by wearing the shirt helps prevent injury and even treat some existing injuries. Dr. Joanne Halbrecht of the Boulder Institute for Sports Medicine says, “It brings your neck into a better position… And changes your center of gravity to a more normal center of gravity so it relieves neck, back and shoulder pain.”

In one study done in conjunction with USC’s Keck School of Medicine, 96 municipal workers were monitored, to gauge the effects of wearing a Posture Shirt on musculoskeletal wellness and health in the computer workplace. After four-weeks of wearing the garment, there was a significant difference in forward shoulder posture, forward head posture, grip strength, and more. Additionally, general fatigue and muscular fatigue decreased by 21 percent and 29 percent while energy levels and productivity increased by 20 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

We know we should improve our posture and if we do so, our health will likely improve. Yet just having that information and knowledge is often not enough to change our behavior. But, when wearing the posture shirt we are “firmly encouraged” by the neurobands. What if we could apply this “posture shirt” concept more broadly to other behaviors we would like to habitually change? E.g. Could we find some way of wearing a personal leadership shirt? Ok… Just try the following for 30 days, and see what happens. Does your personal leadership “posture” improve?

Character Moves:

1. When you wake up in the morning, (perhaps when you’re brushing your teeth) consciously think about putting on your “personal leadership shirt.” Take five minutes and ask yourself questions based on the Character Triangle. They could be like, “How can I be more abundant towards others throughout the day?” “What can I start doing today to be more accountable?” “How will I be more respectful?” You pick what works for you.

2. At the end of the day, (perhaps when you’re brushing your teeth before bed), reflect on just one thing: Did I give much more than I took and bring real value to others through the day? This may be a stretch (no pun intended) but if you make this process habitual, it may be somewhat akin to putting on a personal leadership posture shirt .

Good leadership posture in The Triangle,

Lorne

P.S. I want one of these Alignmed shirts.

One Millennial View: Thanks to design, putting on the shirt is a great way to improve posture… Just as putting on the hypothetical “leadership shirt” will help encourage you to develop better habitual leadership habits. But, there’s no such thing as leadership “neurobands,” aka the things forcing your shirt to work whether you really want it to or not. They literally give your posture no choice but to stay in line. Unfortunately, mental self-will isn’t such a sure thing. Keeping that in mind, there will never be a “personal leadership posture shirt,” but if you can keep your posture good all by yourself, you’ll be a whole lot more fashionable than anyone relying on a shirt with neurobands.